Fall 2008
President’s Memo
By Richard Strauss, NYSALB Board President
$$$$$$$, it’s all about the $$$$$$$. Listening to Governor Paterson in August you know times are going to be tough this year and next. Let’s give a hand to NYLA and their efforts to help stem the bleeding during the recent round of budget cuts. The cuts were bad, but not as bad as first expected.
In my opinion, and you can quote me: “When times are good, libraries get DAMN little!!! When times are tough, libraries get even LESS!!!”
Look at the ‘90s - the economy was booming. Library funding was stagnant. What a failure we library folks were. Only in the last couple of years have we made a little progress. That perhaps gets us to where we should have been maybe 10 years ago. Let’s face it, we have not done our homework. HOMEWORK, good grief, we haven’t even shown up in class.
Let’s face it - we as trustees have let others carry our water. The results are apparent. Not only do they wet themselves, they wet us besides. We stay at home. Sit on our hands or other body parts. We hope things will get better. What is it they say about doing the same thing hoping the results will be different?
If you want things to get better, you better get into the game.
Let me put together a simple game plan. Of course it requires that we all become active in the process.
Begin a letter writing campaign to your local State Assemblyperson and State Senator. Remind them that libraries are an important cog in the economic system. Libraries are most used when times are tough. Remind them that you vote.
Put a simple letter addressed to your State representatives on the circulation desk at your library for each patron to sign. Single letters work much better than a petition. Remember a petition with 1000 signatures weighs a few ounces; 1000 letters with 1000 signatures weigh over 10 pounds.
Letters to the Governor, Senate Majority leader and Assembly speaker are important also.
Collect the letters.
After the fall election, make an appointment; go visit your representatives in the local office. Take your entire board if you are able. Bring your letters. Remind them that they represent you. Although member items mean a little in your locality, state funding is good for everyone. Talk about your library. Give your five-minute speech. You know - the one you prepare when you want to impress people about your library’s goals, programs, and progress.
Don’t be embarrassed. This is the time to showcase your library, your library system, and libraries in general. You know if you aren’t there talking about libraries someone else will be there talking about xxxxxxx or yyyyyyyy or zzzzzzzzz. What’s more important, the health of libraries or x, y, or z?
Trustees waste valuable political capital. How? They stay home. They do little. They say nothing. Trustees serve for no pay, are often politically connected, and are the heart of the communities they serve.
“Now is the time the walrus said…”
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Westchester Library System’s Book Mobile is Ready to Roll
Westchester County residents can look forward to even greater reading enjoyment when the Westchester Library System (WLS) book mobile comes to town. The book mobile, made possible by an $85,000 grant from the Westchester County Board of Legislators, was officially unveiled on Wednesday, July 16 at 11:00AM outside the Scarsdale Public Library and will tour the county.
The book mobile will open its doors to welcome residents with library services at community programs and facilities throughout the county. Visitors can browse through a select collection of books and other materials, borrow items and return them to the book mobile or any of the county’s libraries, sign up for library cards, gather pamphlets on county and area services, and search WLS cyber databases and resources.
“This is an exciting new way in which we are partnering with the Westchester Library System to bring library services into every neighborhood of the County,” stated William J. Ryan, Chairman of the County Board of Legislators. “And there is no better time than summer to improve access to books and to encourage literacy in Westchester County.”
The book mobile will make regular stops in New Rochelle, Tarrytown, Peekskill, Eastchester, Tuckahoe, Mount Kisco, and Yorktown. The book mobile is also scheduled to appear at a variety of community events, including the Italian and Hispanic Heritage Festivals at Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla, the Summer Breeze Concert Series in Mt. Vernon, and the Peekskill Celebration.
“We look forward to showing residents how the book mobile makes getting books and information from the libraries even easier,” says Siobhan A. Reardon, Executive Director of the Westchester Library System. “Libraries are an indispensable resource within our communities and we are excited to be adding a library-on-wheels to our family of 38 libraries throughout the county.
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Bernard A. Margolis – New York State Librarian
The Board of Regents today announced the appointment of Bernard A. Margolis as the New York State Librarian. He will assume his new responsibilities in January 2009. State Education Commissioner Richard Mills said, “We live in an age of information, and libraries play a critical role in providing us with access to that information. They are vital to our economy and our communities. They promote literacy and lifelong learning. And in these trying economic times, they are vital to people seeking information about jobs. I am thrilled that the Regents have appointed a dynamic and innovative person like Mr. Margolis to serve in the critically important position of State Librarian.”
Mr. Margolis will have oversight responsibility for a $13.4 million operating budget, 180 employees, over 20 million collection items and nearly $100 million in State and federal aid to libraries. The New York State Library provides information and library services through its Research Library and the Division of Library Development which provides leadership and technical assistance to New York’s 73 library systems through a comprehensive program of State aid for public, school, academic and special library services. Staff experts work with librarians, trustees, school administrators, public officials and local leaders to solve problems and find new ways of making library services and resources available to their community. Library Development administers more than $100 million in State and federal aid to New York’s libraries and helps them to take full advantage of federal and private funding programs like E-rate telecommunications discounts and Gates Library Foundation grants.
Mr. Margolis served as the President of Boston Public Library (BPL), Boston, Massachusetts, from 1997 to 2008. BPL is the oldest municipal public library in the country, with 27 neighborhood branches. The Library’s collections of over 34 million items include the library of President John Adams, Shakespeare’s first folio, Gutenberg’s Catholicon, and many other unique and rare materials. BPL is a member of the Association of Research Libraries.
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Carol Desch Becomes President of ASCLA Division of ALA
Carol Ann Desch, Coordinator of Statewide Library Services and Director of the Division of Library Development at the New York State Library was inaugurated as the 2008-2009 President of the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA), a division of the American Library Association at the 2008 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, California on July 1.
ASCLA is the national organization that represents state library agencies, specialized library agencies, multitype library cooperatives, and independent librarians. An important goal for ASCLA in 2008-2009 will be to work in partnership with others to get Congress to reauthorize the federal Museum and Library Services Act and to increase appropriations for the federal Library Services and Technology Act Program (LSTA). New York State receives some $9 million in LSTA funds annually from the Institute for Museum and Library Services. These federal funds are critical to the effective delivery of library services in New York State and across the nation.
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A New Way to Raise Funds?
Back in the fall of 2005, Norm Jacknis, then the President of the NYSALB Board, sent me a column from The Journal News of Westchester County on how some libraries go about collecting overdue fees and fines, and some of the reactions of patrons. Given the severe economic problems we are having now, and the reluctance of people to pay more taxes and fees, I thought this might be interesting reading. Even we in our library in East Fishkill are wrestling with the increasing backlog of unpaid fines from patrons.
One of the obvious problems is reaching a balance between fiscal responsibility and the effect on the library patron’s attitude toward the library.
Anyway, here are some excerpts from the September 25, 2005 article by Barbara Woller from The Journal News.
At least six municipal libraries in the northern suburbs turn to agency collectors to help them recover overdue materials and fines from patrons who fail to respond to calls to return them.
If the collection agency cannot get results, they may forward the list of delinquent borrowers to credit reporting agencies, such as credit bureaus. In the worst case scenario, the money owed to their local libraries would appear on their credit reports and could contribute to their being turned down for mortgages or car loans.
That can be more than just a mild hassle for a delinquency that started with minimal fines that are often a dime a day for overdue books and $1 or $2 a day for overdue DVDs.
At the Ossining Public Library, for example, a name is turned over to a collection agency if a patron has $50 or more outstanding or has not returned material within 60 days, said Chris Surovich, the library’s head of circulation.
“Most people are very apologetic and very embarrassed,” she said, but added that others are “irate” when they are contacted by a collection agency.
Adelino Vieira of Ossining, however, said it is fair that the libraries work with collection agencies, when necessary.
“I think that’s fine,” said Vieira, who is a patron of the Ossining library. “There’s no reason why they should not bring their books back. ... They’re entitled to get their stuff.”
Vieira said he returns his books on time. The few occasions he did not, he said they were just one or two days overdue and he paid the fine.
Patrons also said this could encourage others to return what they borrowed on time.
Ms Woller also says there was a piece in TIME Magazine about some libraries even pressing criminal charges against borrowers.
“A paralegal in Massachusetts was arraigned last month on four counts of failing to return library materials, a misdemeanor,” the TIME article said.
In addition to Ossining, the public libraries in Yonkers, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Mahopac and Nyack are among the growing number of libraries nationwide that have turned to collection agencies.
One reason is financial. They need the revenue because they are dealing with budget cuts at a time when there is demand for them to provide more services with limited staffs.
Another reason is that they want the books and other materials returned to be available for other patrons.
An informal survey of library directors in the northern suburbs found most borrowers return their materials on time. But often there is a small but significant number who do not, and those are the ones whose names could be sent to collection agencies.
Judy Schavrien, assistant director of the Yonkers Public Library, said the library had not used a collection agency until February and had been reluctant to take such action.
Unique Management Services Inc., in Jeffersonville, Ind., is a collection agency that specializes in working with libraries. Today, after 10 years, Unique Management works with more than 750 libraries in the United States and Canada. The average amount individuals owe is between $75 and $100.
Because libraries also want to maintain goodwill in the community and with the delinquent patrons, Bowling said its approach is to use a “gentle nudge.” They try to contact the patron several times with calls and letters. If they respond, “We’ll explain what we‘re trying to do and answer questions,” he said. “We tell them the library isn’t mad at them. It just wants to get the matter resolved.”
If that does not work, Bowling said, their names are sent to a credit bureau only as a “last resort.”
Schavrien, for example, said the Yonkers library so far has had $36,000 returned, either in cash or materials borrowed.
The Ossining library said that of its 16,000 cardholders, just over 3 percent were reported to collection agencies in the past year, resulting in the recovery of $43,900 in materials and fines.
Some patrons are creative in saying why they had not returned the borrowed materials. One person said a book was “the perfect height for holding up the couch.”
Another person, explained that the books became damaged when they were left out in the rain. They were put in the dryer but that just ruined them more.
The director of the Mahopac Public Library said it has used a collection agency “for years,” but does it in a very low-key manner. The library just asks the collection agency to send letters to patrons with overdue materials once a year and does so on “a case by case basis.”
The Suffern Free Library and the Finkelstein Memorial Library in Spring Valley are among those that do not use collection agencies.
So, should we resort to collection agencies? Quite some time ago, our East Fishkill Library, with a large number of items missing, and fines not paid, went to the Town Justice Court. That resulted in some residents seeing a police officer at their door, with a summons to appear in Town Court.
Once before the Judge, after being informed that theft of public property is a serious offense, it was amazing how many books were “found” unexpectedly and in unusual places, and how many fines that had been “forgotten” were paid.
Not too long after that, a cartoon appeared on the door of our Director’s office. I have not been able to find it, but it showed two emaciated prisoners chained to the wall of a dungeon, with one asking the other, “And how long was your book overdue?”
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From the Editor’s Desk
Sam Patton, TRUSTEE Editor
This has been an eventful summer, in many ways. We have seen two races for nominations to the President’s office, and the financial melt down starting in the sub-prime mortgage area, and the fall out is still being discovered. Local and state governments are all too aware that taxes collected in 2009 will be much less than anticipated. Unfortunately for us in the library world, the most likely victims of budget strains will include library funding. This makes reading our President’s message even more compelling, so we get the attention of the law-makers in Albany to recognize that libraries are an even more important service in a declining economy.
One of our trips this summer was to Cape Cod. I was impressed by the friendliness of the small library near us, and they have a wireless point that gives visitors internet access even when the library is closed. This in turn gives us schedules for various events, including some excellent musical performances.
We went to one concert held in an old church, remarkable in being one of the few churches whose clock chimes the ship’s bell times, and not the usual one through twelve chimes we landlubbers are used to. During the intermission, I went exploring. In a large room under the sanctuary, I found what may be the world’s smallest library, a small, triangular “cubby-hole” whose total area was about twenty square feet. It was the first public library in Wellfleet, established around 1874. There was room for one chair at the window and shelves for books along all the walls. I assume that browsing was not encouraged, and patrons had to know what to ask for. It would appear that the library remained there until about 1893, when they moved to rooms above the Wellfleet Savings Bank. I grabbed my camera and took several photos. And that was when the gremlins stepped in. I have owned about six cameras, ranging from a Kodak Brownie to a Contax and then a Nikon 35mm camera, and even had the use of a Speed Graphic cut film camera while in college. I did my own black and white film developing and printing. Now I have a mid-range digital camera. I managed to make many mistakes with any kind of camera - one of the most embarrasing is opening the camera before the film is properly shielded or rewound. And this time I managed to make the electronic equivalent of the same mistake. I erased the photo memory chip instead of transferring the images to my computer. However, there was a booklet on the history of the Church, and this had in it a drawing, so you can see for yourselves just how small the library was.
As most of you who use computers fairly often know, Microsoft is trying to get their customers to move to their new operating system called Vista. As more and more software is being ‘improved’ and moved to Vista, I have had to install Vista on one computer. So now I am switching between computers and operating systems, and trying to keep my e-mail accounts straight. There are moments when I miss the good old typewriter and real mail!
I hope that those of you who came to the Trustee Institute were pleased, and if you were not, let us know what we can do to improve the meetings. And finally, you will see an invitation to recommend good people to serve on our NYSALB board.
I am looking forward to seeing many friends and Trustees at NYLA in Saratoga, and hearing interesting stories about your library adventures so we can share them with our readers.
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Great Opportunity - Represent YOUR library system as a Director on the NYSALB Board.
NYSALB tries to represent all the areas of the state. But right now, we do not have board members from all regions. The following systems are not currently represented:
Brooklyn (Kings County), Buffalo-Erie, Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System, Clinton-Essex-Franklin, Finger Lakes Library System, Four County (Broome-Chenango-Delaware-Otsego counties), Mohawk Valley (Fulton-Montgomery-Schenectady-Schoharie counties), New York (Bronx-New York-Richmond counties), Nioga Library System, North Country (Jefferson-Lewis-Oswego-St. Lawrence counties), Ramapo Catskill (Orange-Rockland-Sullivan-Ulster[part] counties), Westchester Library System.
We encourage all library advocates to seek out qualified people to serve on our board. Any person who is currently on a library or system board is eligible to serve on our board. We meet about five times a year, in Albany. Travel expenses to Albany can be reimbursed. We also try to participate in the Albany Library Lobby Day in early Spring, and attend the annual meeting of the New York Library Association. For information on how you, or someone you know, who is a library trustee, can participate in important policy-making decisions that affect libraries across the State of New York, please email NYSALB Board Member Mary Ellen O’Connor at votemeo@hotmail.com or call 518-463-3058.
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